WestConn reschedules clinics with Pfizer vaccine
DANBURY — Western Connecticut State University has rescheduled its COVID-19 vaccine clinics for students after plans to distribute the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were halted.
The Pfizer vaccine will be available for students during clinics from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday at the Bill Williams Gym in Berkshire Hall on the Midtown campus. A third clinic will be added if there is enough demand, said John Clark, university president.
“We are very pleased to provide the new links to registration for our oncampus clinics at which all WCSU students can receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine,” he wrote in a message to students on Friday.
Doses will be available on a first-come, firstserved registration basis, Clark said. Details on registration are available online.
The Community Health Center will run the clinics. That organization has been distributing vaccines across the state, including at the mass vaccination site at the Danbury Fair mall.
All students are eligible, regardless of whether they are from Connecticut. They must bring their student identification or proof of registration, as well as a photo ID. Students who are
16 and 17 must show proof of parental consent with their registration, Clark said.
Last Monday, the university announced plans to hold five clinics where 2,500 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine would be distributed. The next day, the federal government and state paused distribution of that type due to a possible link to six cases of a rare, but severe blood clot. Federal health advisers are still researching the severity of
the risk.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose. Under the new plan, second shots of the Pfizer vaccine will be offered to students the week of May 10. That’s finals week for students.
The university has said it has not decided whether vaccines will be required for students next academic year, although WestConn plans to open and operate “as ‘normal’ as possible” in the fall, WCSU’s spokesman said this week.